Lebanon to Hold First Round of Municipal Elections

Lebanon goes to the polls tomorrow (Sunday, May 2nd) for the first round of its 2010 municipal elections. There’s been a good deal of smart commentary of late; see below for a sample of relevant resources on the subject.

Lebanon will begin its municipal elections on May 2, kicking off a four-stage process that will see voting on May 2, 9, 23, and 30 in the governorates of Mount Lebanon and Beirut, the Bekaa, the south, and the north respectively. The government mandated that municipal council elections be held every six years in 1998, following a hiatus that lasted some 35 years. Since the end of the civil war in 1990 and the Taif Accord that stipulated constitutional reforms, Lebanon has held five parliamentary elections and two rounds of local elections, the latter most recently in May 2004. The structural reforms—particularly those pertaining to electoral reform and administrative decentralization—written into the Accord, however, have never been implemented. The issue of reform has been raised before and after each of the elections held since 1990 without ever being translated into concrete measures, and the same is true this time around. (Keep reading)

The atmosphere could hardly be more different. At this time last year, the country was awash in party flags, election advertisements and acrimonious language in advance of the June parliamentary elections. Today, however, on the eve of the first round of municipal elections, consensus is the buzzword.

On the streets of Beirut, it is more common to see the flags of Argentina, Brazil or Germany flying from balconies and car windows as the World Cup approaches than it is to see Future Movement, Lebanese Forces or Free Patriotic Movement banners waving, even as polling begins on Sunday.

Several of the country’s top political parties – which analysts have argued do not even want municipal elections now – announced in recent weeks that they will focus on compromise instead of contest during the polling.

If the prominent families and political parties in a municipality can agree on a list of council members, the list wins uncontested and no election takes place. On Tuesday, Interior Minister Ziad Baroud announced that nearly 20 percent of the 313 municipalities in Mount Lebanon – the first governorate to vote – will not hold polls as unity deals were hammered out. (Keep reading)

4. “Worried Lebanese” on the municipal polls: Be sure to read one of my favorite Lebanese bloggers writing on the themes of administrative decentralization and the municipal elections, here, here, andhere.

5. Ghassan Karam asks the right questions: “The paradoxical thing however, is that as soon as we determined to hold these elections the major political bosses started their efforts to short circuit the democratic system and attempted to arrange for deals behind smoke filled rooms that result in coalitions and candidates whose choice is designed to achieve one goal only: rob from the citizens their right to vote. If the vote is sacred, and it is, then why do these feudal political lords wish to take away from us the chance to have our say? The answer is very clear; they do not want to diminish their total control over the political system. If we are given the chance to form our own lists of candidates then we would realize that we do not need them to run our lives.” (Keep reading)

6. E-ography on the Lebanese media’s coverage: The tone of local TV reporters covering the municipal elections in Lebanon is hilarious. You assume they are covering the war in Afghanistan or just another 9/11. The phono between studio and field reporters are the most ridiculous “Can you hear me?” is so recurrent that you suppose the reporter is under heavy shelling. “The President Michel Suleiman is now expected to arrive any moment! Yes, yes, I hear you… (pause) allo, allo.” (Keep reading)

7. I highly recommend you check out Engage Lebanon for a wealth of material on the municipal elections, including lots of high quality maps, a newswire, Twitter feed, and lots of resources in Arabic, English, and French.

Where was this organization when we were covering the parliamentary elections last year? Back then, you all had to content yourself with Qifa Nabki’s chintzy graphics and whatever the local manqousheh vendor slipped me in the way of expert analysis. Lebanon’s come a long way…

8. Finally, I hate to risk jinxing myself once again, but I’m theoretically going to be in Washington this Friday for a U.S. Institute of Peace event on the Lebanese municipal elections. The last time this was supposed to happen, my wife went into labor the night before. So I’m not making any promises… But if I do make it down, I’d love to see some of y’all there.

7 thoughts on “Lebanon to Hold First Round of Municipal Elections”

As usual , Khaled Sagheyih is one of the very few that has the courage to tell it like it is.
The municipal elections are another Lebanese charade that is designed by those in power in order to maintain their total control over a system that is rotten to the core. And what is most ironical is that one of the strongest advocates of the system; Walid Bey; wants as usual to have it both ways. He met with Mr. Arslan and made arrangements to short circuit the electoral process and even issued a statement in which both of them stress the importance of preserving privileges to olad established families then he goes out to mock the system. Would the real Walid Jumblatt please stand up? Oh, I almost forgot, that is an imposible request since there is no such thing as a real Walid Jumblatt, he will change colours every minute.
Elections, what elections? This is a farce that no self respecting society will accept. The same feudal lords design the game, dictate its rules and then go into smoke filled rooms to abort it. These feudal lords must think that we are the dumbest people in the world. You know what, they might be right.

I think that cleric may be on to something, come to think of it. California is pretty prone to earthquakes. And of course, we have 300 days a year of sunshine, Hollywood, and beaches. Which of course, means tons of cleavage and scantily clad women.

Could you please please tell me where I can get my hands on the same kind of map but for the other mouhafazat? Thank you very much for an awesome map of Mount Lebanon! I now understand where I come from better!